An Unexpected Touch
by LionLadyBee
Summary: When a bad flying accident leaves Ginny severely injured to where she can't play anymore, she is put into physical therapy. After going through several therapists her coach finally brings in the one person she least expected to see


**A/N:** I am not Jk Rowling and none of the characters or setting or world of Harry Potter belongs to me.  
**I want to thank I_was_BOTWP for being here with me on this journey as the best Alpha a girl could ask for and helping to make this piece everything it is now.**  
-This piece was written for the Facebook Group The Fairest of The Rare's Sing Me A Rare Vol. 2 comp hosted in 2018. The prompt I chose was Iris, Goo Goo Dolls.

* * *

" _Ginny Weasley had almost caught the golden snitch during the matchup between the Holyhead Harpies and Bulgaria, but then a bludger came out of nowhere and knocked her off of her broom. Sources say this gave the Bulgarian Seeker a chance to grab the snitch and win the game. Ginny, a 25-year-old female Seeker of the most notorious all female quidditch team "The Holyhead Harpies" ended up landing on the ground and was knocked unconscious. Her coach reports that "her injuries are showing this is most likely the last game she will play this season." With rumors of that, it is most likely presumed until she finishes physical therapy she will not be able to come back to quidditch."  
\- Rita Skeeter, Writer for the Daily Prophet_

Ginny had read the paper for the 15th day in a row. She was so mad and upset with herself, she did not understand how she had missed the bludger heading for her direction. Her coach and the Healers told her she was out for the rest of the season. She was determined to prove them wrong, but with her stubbornness coming to a head, her fourth physical therapist just quit. He told her, "you do not listen to a word I have said, and therefore are going to do more damage to yourself then you are going to heal" and that was that. She did not care though, she was going to make it back to her team, if it was the last thing she did.

"Ginny, we have found you a new therapist, he came highly suggested, and last minute, and with the situation we are in, we really had no other options. However.." Her coach Jackson was telling her, but when he said "however" she butt in.

"I am not going to like him am I?... _WHY?...Who. Is. He?"_ She stressed the last half of her question. She had already begun to guess who it was, but only needed her concerns confirmed.

"Funny you should ask ...Marcus, come on in, will you." Coach Jackson stuck his head out the door and ushered Marcus Flint into the room.

"Are you kidding me? The Marcus Flint," She laughed "You realize we go way back, right? Old house rivals at Hogwarts, not to mention the opposite sides of the war. I have heard all about you, but it still does not change our history with each other."

"Well you said she was a fiery one Jackson, it seems I have my work cut out for me, after all. Our past is no secret Ginny, and if you have heard about how good I am, well maybe I'll be worth your while." She noticed he threw a wink at her. "Honestly, if you are up for it, I think we can have you back in flying shape in no time. How many therapists have quit or been fired so far? I think you will come to find out I why they say I am the best around, and I will be the last one you have." She felt that his response was a little cocky, but considering it had been a while since the war had ended and she had left Hogwarts, she would try to give him the benefit of the doubt. However that did not mean she did not have her reservations.

"Well, first off you will not be touching me, like at all. Second off, time may have passed and we may have been long gone from Hogwarts, but I was never a fan of you to begin with, so I am going to need some time to think about this." She replied before walking out of the room. She felt like for now this was going to be the best response she could give in this situation, for she really needed to let this blow over and clear her mind about him.

* * *

Day 5:

There had not really been much improvement between the two of them, in fact she had not reached out to him at all. However, she decided to send off an owl. After much thought she narrowed her terms down to two things:

" _I do not want to see the mark, so your arm must be covered at all times, and you will at no point in time ever touch me. If you can agree to these two things, meet me at 12 o'clock noon tomorrow and we can further discuss this arrangement._

 _-G.W."_

The following day, she found herself starving at noon with only a cup of tea in her hand, waiting on him to show up to discuss where they go now. He was late by a single minute, and she did not like to be kept waiting.

"Thank you for responding to my owl," She said "and erm, thank you for coming"

"I will admit I skeptical at first, but I figured I am getting paid to do a job, so here I am." He said. "Soo...I will start off by saying I can agree to your two terms, however before we move forward further I need to put some stuff out on the table." She was taken aback by this for a moment, but she let him continue.

"First off, as I said before, it does not matter which side of the war we were on, everyone knows I was on the wrong side, you have made it clear from the beginning you have not moved past it. But, I am here because in spite of the past, I have a job to do, and I know how to do my job, and if I can say so myself, I am pretty good at it. So with that said, if this is going to work and we are going to get you back to playing before the season is over, the animosity you poses towards me because of the past needs to be taken out of this."

At this she got a little flustered and responded the best she could. "Well, I will admit, I overreacted a tad bit at first, but I can see where you are coming from. Just know, it is not going to happen over night for me. I can try, but I am not perfect by all means."

"I was not expecting it to happen over night. One just does not forget. Second, I have taken measures to cover the dark mark. You will not see it, nor do you need to worry about seeing it, as per your owl. I am not going to lie to you, not touching you is going to be very hard because of the work I have in store for us, so I will use magic and spells where I can; that can be the only compromise I can offer to keep with your terms of not touching you. So if you are okay with that, then I think we can move forward." She was not expecting all of this to come from him, but she felt that maybe they could move forward.

"And just when would we start this journey to fixing me?" She inquired.

He explained to her more in depth about their schedules and his plan to get her back on track and what exactly that entailed. Some of her tension melted away as he finished with the details. She did not want any surprises to happen beyond her control.

* * *

Day 30:

 _And I'd give up forever to touch you_

 _'Cause I know that you feel me somehow_

Almost a month had passed since they learned that they would be working together and so far their journey to getting Ginny back on track had been going well. His use of spell work to get her into some of the physical positions that would allow her back to stretch was working. She noticed today though that he seemed a bit distracted.

"You are unusually quiet Flint, what gives?" she asked.

"Nothing, I am just thinking about these interviews with _The Daily Prophet_ and _Witch Weekly_. We have not talked about that yet," he said.

"Oh, well that is still a while away, do not even worry about it," She replied - she had not even given the interviews much thought. They were still a month away and she hoped by then she would be right on target. "Hey lets try more of those bridge exercises." She thought by diving into her lower back exercises it might make him more focused.

"Alright here we go, when i say go ready, One,Two...Three, Go!" She was doing such a fantastic job that she did not even realize until the very last minute that magic was not at play and his actual hand was on the very low part of her back. She was a bit taken aback by it, but she decided not to mention it or question it to him. However later that night she admitted to herself, she kind of liked the contact.

* * *

Day 45:

 _And I don't want the world to see me_

 _'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

 _When everything's meant to be broken_

 _I just want you to know who I am_

It had been fifteen days since his magic-only plan did not work and he had touched her, and fifteen days now that she spent wondering if it would happen again. It was like something within her had been kindled and a piece of hope that she could fulfil her goals was bound to happen. She would not admit it to anyone but she had really grasped onto that touch.

She spent so much time closing herself off, that she thought maybe she could let go just a little bit with him, moving forward. She was disappointed to learn it would not in fact happen again. The press meetings had been moved up today, something she was not entirely prepared for and she was nowhere near ready in their plan which they mapped out.

"What is with you today Ginny? Does this have anything to do with what is supposed to happen in a little while when Rita Skeeter and Madam Waters come to interview you?" he had asked her. She wanted to lie and tell him but something was nagging at her.

"Alright fine, I will let you know that yes, I am a little worried. This was not supposed to happen for another 15 days! I am nowhere near ready, and after last month where I almost completely fell during that lower back exercise I just do not know if I can do this!" she ended up telling him, while she happened to unconsciously grab his hand. Upon realizing she was holding his hand, she also had to figure out how to let go of her fears.

"How many times have you done these types of interviews? This should be a cakewalk for you. Where is Ginny Weasley, who was in the Prophet more times than I can count, commenting on a win over another team?"

She tried to play it off that she was not getting her hopes up, so she laughed and said "Haha very funny, Marcus Flint reads the paper. Well time is running out for me, so better nowhan never. Wish me luck" She turned around and walked towards the room where both ladies were waiting for her.

The interview itself was not bad, it was just like her last ones. She was pretty confident now that it was over and looked forward to telling him all about it. "You will never guess what happened! I actually laughed. Madam Waters made a joke about Rita and I cracked up so hard I had tears in my eyes. I was worried over nothing." She liked the way he smiled at her.

"That is awesome Ginny! I knew you could totally do it." He said and he threw his hand up for a high-five.

* * *

Day 52:

 _Or the moment of truth in your lies_

It was a few short days later that they were joking and giggling around when she noticed that his arm band slipped down his arm. She was shocked to discover that there was no dark mark there. Without thinking she quickly grabbed his arm.

"What happened to it? I thought it would be there." She inquired.

"No, I erm never had one. Just because I had been on that side did not mean I took the mark...and based on your face I am guessing you are wondering why I never just told you?" He said

"Well yeah…why did you not just tell me about it in the beginning?" She asked. She really could not understand why. Although at this point she supposed it did not matter. But this further changed the way she continued to think about him.

"I wanted to tell you, however, I thought if I did then that would cause further issues between us." She noticed his hand twitch and she thought he would pull away but he didn't. Things between them seemed to be going extremely well, and she was determined to move forward.

* * *

Day 60:

Her therapy had taken a turn for the better. She was further ahead in their game plan than they had anticipated, so today he suggested to her a rest day.

"So you said you wanted to take it light today. Does that mean we can go grab some lunch?" She inquired.

"You know, lunch sounds nice right now. I actually did not bring anything with me today. So let's go." And that was the end of that conversation.

Lunch went spectacular at least she felt it did. The conversation was light and they ended up keeping away from talking about the accident or how Rita ended up making her piece in the prophet a total wash. The part of the lunch that Ginny loved the most was the part where Marcus had, seemingly without thought,, moved a piece of her hair from in front of her face to behind her ear. It was the most natural thing in the world but it sparked more of that feeling in her, feeling born from his first touch a month ago.

* * *

Last Session:

 _I just want you to know who I am_

Today was the very last session they would officially be having together, however she was hoping that with the way everything was going between them. They could end up seeing each other a whole lot more. She had finally worked up the courage to talk with him about her feelings for him and what that meant for them.

"So we have been at this for about three months now. I would say if you continue to do these exercises at home and at practices, you are cleared to start playing in the next game," he had said to her.

"You really mean that." She was so excited that she would get to be playing again. This was her main goal all along. She felt like a brand new person.

"Yes. I talked to Coach Jackson and he said you can start practice with the team on Sunday." There was that silly smile again. She was pretty confident he had felt something towards her but he wasn't sure what. Surely he had seen the change in her that she even felt herself.

"So…" She began "Now that our sessions are over, does this mean I will still get to see you? I was actually thinking you could come to my next game and then maybe we could go grab some food again." She leaned towards him with a big smile on her face, which had begun to turn a small shade of pink. The long pause he took gave her a small doubt.

"Look, I..do not really know how to say this to you, but I did not realize that I had sent out any signs that I was interested in you. I was simply here to do a job, and you are back to being able to play. What I am trying to say is, well, you really do not need me anymore after today, so I will be moving on to another client and I will not be able to keep in touch like maybe you had hoped" At this point he had moved away from her a bit and she noticed his eyes began to grow bigger.

She was really embarrassed and just felt so horrible with herself, that she took a step back furthering the distance between them. How could she have read everything all wrong. This was not the type of discussion she had wanted and therefore left them both at a very awkward impasse.

* * *

End Notes:   
Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story and for all the reviews or kudos you may end up leaving. I appreciate every single one of you!


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